Monday, 10 February 2014

Welcome!

This is my
blog on which I'm recording my exploration of Hertfordshire (and
surrounding counties). I only recently moved here and this is my
record of how I get to know the area.

I've started
with a local footpath that I can do as a circular walk from my house.
I set out, on the Saturday just gone, in my walking boots and
waterproofs. With me I took a camera, binoculars, a drink
and some biscuits. In hindsight wellies would probably have been
better than walking boots. There hasn't been much standing water
round where I live (on a hill it has to be said) but as soon as I got
onto the footpath it became apparent how squelchy and water-logged
the ground has become – there wasn't a lot of standing water around
but if there's much more rain here I imagine a lot of pools of standing water
will start to appear.

The weather
was bright and sunny but really windy. Admittedly I'd gone out after
a couple of showers had passed, not wanting to start my exploration
with a soaking. There weren't many birds around, probably due to the
wind, but I could hear robins, blue tits and great tits in the trees.

Walking past
a particular stand of trees I saw a group of goldfinches taking
shelter as well as a pair of blue-tits. A bit further on I saw my
first snowdrops of the year. There was also some dogwoods that made a
colourful splash of purple-red against the brown/gray of the other
trees.

As I turned
a corner of the path I came up against a large pool of staniding
water. It was impassible without wellies so, making a mental note to
wear wellies next time, I turned round and retraced my steps home.